Panichelli the hero for Strasbourg with late double
Joaquín Panichelli scored twice in the second half as RC Strasbourg twice came back from a goal down to beat hosts FC Nantes, 3-2. Catch up on the action from the Beaujoire with our match recap.
A much-changed Racing under pressure from the off
After having played three straight midweek matches across the Conference League and Coupe de France, it was only natural that Strasbourg would make some changes, and that was the case with Gary O'Neil bringing in Maxi Oyedele for his first Ligue 1 McDonald's start and handing a place to David Datro Fofana in attack. Eager to get a win to try to pull clear of the relegation battle, Nantes had Racing under pressure from the off, and it soon paid off, and from an unlikely source.
With just six minutes gone, midfielder Dehmaine Tabibou gave his side the lead with a low shot across Mike Penders, scoring his first professional goal. Racing would grow into the match, but still struggled to create chances, and the next opportunity would fall to Nantes, with Matthis Abline having a free kick in a dangerous position, but the young forward missed badly (16'). Strasbourg then had a pair of chances with Sebastian Nanasi misplaying a cross from Samuel Amo-Ameyaw and then Valentín Barco being denied by Anthony Lopes at the back post.
As the half hour mark passed, the match continued to be end-to-end, and Tabibou was close a double (34'), only for Penders to keep his effort from range out. Just before the break, though, Racing would pull level with Oyedele scoring a spectacular trivela to make it one-all at the break.
16 Ligue 1 goals for Joaquín Panichelli! 🇦🇷🔝 pic.twitter.com/AVpVovBudz
— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) March 22, 2026
But panichelli comes to the rescue
With Racing dominating the ball, Nantes needed to play on the break, and that's just what the hosts did, with Matthis Abline finishing brilliantly past Penders (53') to make it 2-1 and take the initiative once again. O'Neil would make a triple change midway through the break, bringing on Samir El Mourabet, Abdoul Ouattara and Gessime Yassine, but it had little of the desired effect for the Alsatians.
Indeed, the next chance would come for Ignatius Ganago, who split the visitors' defence, only for Penders to tip his effort on to the post (75'). That profligacy would cost the hosts, though, as Joaquín Panichelli, who had come on at the break but was barely involved would power home a cross by Yassine, the two substitutes drawing Racing level (78'). The Argentine was on target again in added time, as Nantes struggled to clear a free kick, and he struck the ball home to seal a 3-2 win.
With the result, Strasbourg snap a run of draws and move to eighth place, while Nantes, who still have a game in hand, remain in the relegation playoff, five points from Auxerre in 16th, making their race for survival that much more difficult.
